Drug Tip Hotline Getting Few Calls

May 07, 1998

GLASTONBURY — The police department's drug tip hotline is getting only modest response, perhaps because many residents are not aware of it, police say.

The line has been set up for the past few years in the department's investigations division. It connects to an answering machine where people can leave anonymous complaints about suspected drug activity or other crimes in their neighborhoods.

``The bottom line is that we can't be everywhere at once. People know their neighborhoods better than anybody -- who belongs there, what suspicious cars are coming through,'' said police Sgt. Howard Charbonneau.

Citizens' tips have been valuable in past investigations, including one in which a local attorney was discovered with large amounts of marijuana and prescription drugs in his residential neighborhood, Charbonneau said.

Only three messages have been left on the tip line over the past several months, he said. Information from callers is used to start an investigation and could lead to surveillance or other detective work if the tips pan out, police said.